White Flag
by poynterjones
Summary: Living in a small wizarding village, working for the Ministry...Draco Malfoy leads a typically normal life, but as a new neighbor moves in, the past he's been trying to surpress awakens to haunt him again.
1. Prologue

**White Flag**

_I know you think that I shouldn't still love you, or tell you that  
But if I didn't say it, well I'd still have felt it, where's the sense in that?  
I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder or return to where we were,_

But I will go down with this ship, and I won't put my hands up and surrender,  
There will be no white flag above my door, I'm in love, and always will be

I know I left too much mess and destruction to come back again,  
And I cause nothing but trouble, I understand if you can't talk to me again  
And if you live by the rules of it's over then I'm sure that that makes sense, but

But I will go down with this ship, and I won't put my hands up and surrender,  
There will be no white flag above my door, I'm in love, and always will be

And when we meet, which I'm sure we will  
All that was there, will be there still  
I'll let it pass, and hold my tongue,  
And you will think, that I've moved on

But I will go down with this ship, and I won't put my hands up and surrender,  
There will be no white flag above my door, I'm in love, and always will be

"I don't want to believe that this is our last night together,"

"This isn't; it's just our last night together at Hogwarts. Will you write me?"

"Of course I will. You'll have to tell me all about Hogwarts,"

"And you'll have to tell me about the world,"

"I'm not sure if I want to travel the world anymore,"

"Why? It's always been your dream,"

"Dreams are silly, Draco. I'm not a little girl anymore. I have to live in reality now, not some fairytale I've imagined,"

"Dreams can turn reality into something wonderful. Besides, you've dreamt about this too long. It's a waste to give it up now,"

"You're right…you always know what to say, Draco. Damn, I'll miss you,"

"Once I'm out of Hogwarts, I'll come find you, wherever you are in the world. I promise,"


	2. A Cottage in Armonia

It was four years since Draco left Hogwarts. Thinking the manor was too large for him, he sold it and moved into a small cottage just right outside the wizard settlement of Armonia.

Father would have been furious at his actions. The manor had belonged to his family for centuries. But Father was dead, so he could do as he pleased.

He was a complete disappointment in Father's eyes. The only thing Father was proud of was the skull and snake on his son's forearm. Young, foolish, and captivated by power, Draco had joined the Death Eaters. Just in his second month in term, Harry Potter finally defeated the Dark Lord. His followers fled. Many were caught and sentenced to life in Azkaban, and many returned to their normal lives, pretending they had no such activities with the Dark Lord.

Draco himself was put in trial. Seeing that he didn't do anything in his two months and that he was an important member of the ministry he was the head of the Magical Sports and Games department, and a favorite for Minister, the Wizengamot let him go.

Since then, he tried to erase his past, and foolishly tried to remove the Dark Mark from his arm, but he knew he was bound to it for life. There was Good and Evil, unlike he previously though. Power had its limits, and Good would always prevail in the end. That's why he tried to escape his past by selling his manor where many evil deeds were preformed, and moved to Armonia.

Armonia was a lovely community. It was the only all-wizard settlement in England other than Hogsmeade. Each morning, Draco would walk into the village to purchase groceries, greeted cordially by its residents on the way.

His cottage overlooked a beautiful lake, and during spring, the fruit trees would bloom with sweet-smelling flowers. His life and house was perfect. There was only one this missing: someone to share it with.

He hadn't dated since Hogwarts, though he received many offers. He was quite involved in the relationship, but it didn't work out. He never dared to enter a relationship since then, in risk of being hurt again. It was five years ago, but his heart never seemed to heal.


	3. The New Neighbor

It was a chilly, March evening. Draco sat on his porch, his hands around a steamy mug of butterbeer. A fleece blanket was over his legs, warming them.

His glance was set upon the rickety old house across the street. Its lights were on. They haven't been on for almost ten years, as Armonia's inhabitants have said. There were also rumors of it being haunted. No one dared to buy it.

It was a shabby house. Its windows broken, shutters lopsided, and its lawn grew wild across from Draco's neatly trimmed one. Everyone believed it was beyond repair.

Someone must have moved in. Draco pondered how long they would last in that house, maybe two, three weeks at the most. He amused himself for quite some while then went inside to get some sleep. He would pay a visit to them in the morning.

Draco was greeted warmly by the morning sun. After rolling out of bed and doing a good stretch, he stepped into the shower, letting the hot water pellets massage his back.

Half an hour later, he was sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee, his eyes scanning the front page of the Daily Prophet. Apparently the Weird Sisters were having a reunion concert. Seeing that there were no articles that interested him, he set aside the Prophet.

He peaked out the window and saw the house next door. Remembering that he was going to visit it, he set down his coffee and left his house. He cross the street and stepped onto Number 23's jungle of a lawn.

A lady in a sunhat was planting flowers around the front porch.  
"Hello, there," Draco said, trying to get the lady's attention.

She turned around and smiled, "Hi,"  
She was very pretty. Locks of curly auburn hair framed her delicate face.

"You must be the new neighbor—Draco," Draco said, sticking out his hand.

"Maria. Yes, yes I am. You must live across the street," She said, giving Draco's hand two firm shakes, looking over across the street.

"Yeah, I do. Are you fixing this house up?"

"Yes. It's actually quite charming; it just needs some touch ups. I'm sure it'll look great after I renovate it,"

"You're doing this all by hand?" Draco cocked his eyebrow, staring at the planting materials next to Maria.

"I don't find it satisfying just to wave a wand. I feel a lot better when I get something done the Muggle way. You know what I mean?"

"Honestly…no," Draco said. He had never met someone who preferred the Muggle way to the normal way.

"I hear that from most wizards," Maria said, placing a clump of daisies in a hole in the dirt, "But I think I'll tackle this lawn magically. It's impossible…" She said, smoothing the dirt over the daisies. She then stood up, brushing the dirt from her trousers, "Would you like to come in for some lemonade?"

"You've done a brilliant job on this house so far," Draco said, sipping his lemonade and looking around the parlor.

"Thank you," Said Maria, whom was also drinking out a glass of lemonade, "I spent all of yesterday fixing this room up. I've got a lot more to do, though. I'm glad I do. I have a lot of time on my hands.

"You don 't work?"

"I do. I'm a Magical Creatures Specialist. I'm just taking a break and settling down for a while before I return to work,"

"That sounds like a fun job, but I could never do it. I've been afraid to get near Magical Creatures since I was attacked by a hippogriff. I work at the Ministry myself—Magical Games and Sports department,"

"I could never work at the Ministry. Everyone's too uptight,"

"We are, aren't we?" Draco chucked, taking a glance at his watch, "Speak of the devil, I have to be going to work. Thank you for the delicious lemonade,"

Maria showed him to the door. After saying goodbye, Draco went back across the street. He grabbed his Blazer broomstick, stepped onto his lawn, and took off. He would fly to work everyday if the weather agreed.

Work was average. The only time his department was in a frenzy was around the Quidditch World Cup season, and that was months later. Currently, he was developing a new breaking system for the new Blazer 41 broomstick, set to release summer of next year. The plus of his job was that he'd get the latest broomstick before it hit stores.

"Malfoy, you know the annual Ministry Banquet is approaching," Percy Weasley said.

"Yes, Minister," Draco said, poking the Blazer with his wand.

"And you've been informed that it's your turn to host this year?"

"What? Really, you wouldn't want to have such an important banquet at my house,"

"Rubbish, of course we do, but if you don't want to do it, I'll understand—,"  
Draco opened his mouth to reject the offer, but Percy continued, "But you wouldn't want to lose your position in the Ministry, do you?"

"My house is Number 22, Magician's Quarter, Armonia," Draco surrendered. It wasn't worth losing his job over some stupid banquet.

"Good, good, Malfoy," Percy patted Draco's shoulder then went off to yell at Oliver Wood.


End file.
